Juan Martin Diez

Juan Martin Diez (5 September 1775-20 August 1825) was a Spanish general in the service of Portugal during the Peninsular War.

Biography
Diez was from Castrillo de Duero in Valladolid, Spain, and in 1793 joined the Spanish Army during the French Revolutionary Wars. Taking part in the Rosellon Campaign, the two years that he fought in the War of the Pyrenees were vital to his training and his hostile attitude towards France. In 1796 he married and opened a farm in Fuentecen in Burgos Province, and ran it until 1808, when the French occupied Spain during the Peninsular War. When a woman in his town was raped by a French soldier, Diez gained revenge by killing the soldier, and he became a leader of the anti-French resistance. After the Spanish Army suffered many defeats, Diez became a leader of the guerrilla movement, believing that the army was weak, and fought for Portugal as a guerrilla general.

In the aftermath of the Peninsular War Diez supported the Trienio Liberal (1820-1823) and was made the Governor of Zamora. However, France invaded Spain for a third time and Fernando VII of Spain was restored to power. Diez went to hide in Portugal but was allowed to return home safely; he was later betrayed by the government and was hung.